Season of the Serpent: A Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey and the Major Arcana of the Tarot are integrated in a metaphysical book series that illustrates a spiritual journey of awakening beyond the matrix of duality.

INTRODUCTION

“Season of the Serpent” is a metaphysical fantasy series that incorporates real life Synchronicity with a unique mix of historical, esoteric, and extraterrestrial background, presenting a modern re-imagination of the Garden of Eden tale.

Many readers have praised these books for their deep insights of metaphysical knowledge and for dramatizing a journey of spiritual awakening.

However, these books are not for everyone. Some readers have difficulty with them. Because these books are too often described as complex, confusing, multilayered, and esoteric, I decided to put together a study guide to aid curious readers in their journey through the pages of these novels.

NOTE: This study guide contains spoilers that reveal some of the plot twists and turns. However, awakened readers may simply wish to know if this material is worth an investment of their time.

From the start, these novels were designed to be both entertaining and enlightening, to provide a pleasurable experience in which to learn about esoteric concepts (and a few conspiracies along the way). I could have chosen to present this material in a standard non-fiction New Age textbook format, however I decided to use a fictional fantasy as the vehicle for several significant reasons.

(1) The material makes use of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey to illustrate the spiritual path, which is dramatic by its nature, and is echoed across countless films, stories, and myths.

(2) Fiction, used as metaphor or parable, is likely a better vehicle to convey complex spiritual themes without distortion. It allows the reader to access his or her own creative, subconscious mind without the ego getting in the way or acting as a filter. Fiction can better illustrate psychological states or themes than non-fiction.

(3) It discloses controversial material in a non-threatening way, allowing the reader to awaken at his or her own level of comfort. This was particularly important as I was writing novels that could be read by sleepers to aid their own process of personal and spiritual awakening.

For the purpose of this study guide, I’m going to focus on Point (1) The Hero’s Journey.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL & STAR WARS

The Hero’s Journey was described by American scholar Joseph Campbell, in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, as a pattern that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development alike. It describes the archetypal adventure of The Hero, a representative who leaves the safe and comfortable confines of his home to explore the uncharted unknown, and perform a great deed, or attain great knowledge on behalf of the larger group, community, or civilization. The Hero’s Journey is at its core, a Service-to-Others spiritual path.

“The Hero’s journey is mankind’s oldest story. It is a story that transcends all cultures and ideologies. Symbolically, it is our own story as it is an allegory for the individual paths we must journey upon. It is constantly being retold and manifested within each of our own lives. It is the story of the soul; and its ultimate purpose is to remind us why we are here and what we must accomplish.” (source)

One of the most famous examples of the Hero’s Journey is the original Star Wars film in which Luke Skywalker makes a very literal Hero’s Journey from the Ordinary World, his home planet of Tatooine, to Meeting with the Mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to the Approach of the Death Star, to the Reward of the Death Star plans, to the final act of victory that marks his personal transformation from farm boy to galactic hero.

George Lucas credited Campbell’s influence in the making of Star Wars, and that influence may have had something to do with the universal appeal of the film.

“I came to the conclusion after American Graffiti that what’s valuable for me is to set standards, not to show people the world the way it is…around the period of this realization…it came to me that there really was no modern use of mythology…The Western was possibly the last generically American fairy tale, telling us about our values. And once the Western disappeared, nothing has ever taken its place. In literature we were going off into science fiction…so that’s when I started doing more strenuous research on fairy tales, folklore, and mythology, and I started reading Joe’s books. Before that I hadn’t read any of Joe’s books…It was very eerie because in reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces I began to realize that my first draft of Star Wars was following classic motifs…so I modified my next draft [of Star Wars] according to what I’d been learning about classical motifs and made it a little bit more consistent.” (Wikipedia.org)

Like many kids of the 1970s, Star Wars had a huge impact on my life. It was “the Force” that sparked my interest in Gnosticism. I then graduated to the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, another excellent example of the Hero’s Journey. It was “the Spice” that propelled me to experiment with psychedelics. While Star Wars was instrumental in wetting people’s appetite for a spiritual awakening, it failed to deliver real spiritual substance, as the trilogy went on to focus upon epic externalized battles of duality.

(There was one profound moment when Luke enters his inner-most cave and confronts his shadow side, seeing his own face behind Darth Vader’s mask, in The Empire Strikes Back.)

Hollywood writers have been appropriating the Hero’s Journey ever since to retell countless heroic adventure tales of externalized victory over the forces of darkness. Christopher Vogler, a screenwriter and Hollywood executive, adapted Campbell’s work in a legendary Hollywood memo for screenwriters, A Practical Guide to The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Vogler later developed his approach to The Hero’s Journey in his book, The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers

However, the real mythic purpose of the Hero’s Journey is portraying an internal spiritual transformation. This is something a Hollywood blockbuster simply can not adequately accomplish, giving us an externalized counterfeit instead. Books are significantly better at describing their hero’s interior landscape and their inner journey. That’s not to say my novels are the answer, but for many readers they provide valuable insight and inspiration (as well as a great story.)

A JOURNEY REFLECTED IN TAROT CARDS

The archetypal sequence of the Hero’s Journey is also depicted in the Tarot cards, in the sequence of 22 cards that make up the story of the Major Arcana (which literally means “big secret” or “important hidden knowledge”). Each card is a visual reference of a symbolic archetype that emphasizes an important life stage encountered on the journey of life, the stages that are significant to our psychological and spiritual development.

“The Tarot offers a structured interpretation for our life path and enables us to grasp these concepts at our deepest core. … The Major Arcana Tarot card meanings illustrate the structure of human consciousness and, as such, hold the keys to life lessons passed down through the ages. The imagery of the Major Arcana Tarot cards is filled with wisdom from multiple cultures and esoteric traditions, including the Egyptian, Buddhist, Hindu, Sufi, Hebrew and Christian religions.” (source)

“The Major Arcana cards can also represent Carl Jung’s archetypes – consistent, directing patterns of influence that are an inherent part of human nature. They are themes which mark, portray and symbolise stages in our psyche whereby we aim to become a balanced and integrated person. Along this journey, we encounter challenges, face adversity, perform labours, make hard decisions and fight opposing forces. Each step of the way brings us closer to enlightenment. This is often referred to as the journey of the Fool.” (source)

SEASON OF THE SERPENT: BOOK ONE

After watching “The Dark Side of the Rainbow” the curious and altogether astounding Synchronicity/mashup of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wizard of Oz” in the summer of 1997, a vague idea for a fantasy novel developed into a metaphorical tale of spiritual awakening, that explores the nature of duality – culturally, politically, and spiritually.

The spiritual quest of the Hero’s Journey and the Tarot cards is recreated in Season of the Serpent, comprised of two books, broken into ten acts, with five acts per book.

I’ve adapted my formula, using Christopher Vogler’s simplified 12 steps and the 22 M.A. cards of the Tarot into a 10 act format, and I set it within the dramatic template of The Wizard of Oz (another Hero’s Journey) to tell a metaphysical story of spiritual awakening where the Hero transcends duality.

THE PROLOGUE

This introduction to the story is primarily autobiographical, and it summarizes the awakening process of the author, utilizing the “Dark Side of the Rainbow” as a dramatic turning point. The Prologue also sets the tone of the story to follow, and hints at the unique experience the reader will have as he or she travels from the Ordinary World (Kansas) to the Special World (OZ) by taking an unusual detour down this Yellow Brick Road (The Hero’s Journey).

There are many clues buried within my description of the “Dark Side of the Rainbow” that deal with the problem of duality, that is the central theme of these books. There’s even a reference to Transhumanism when describing Dorothy meeting the Tin Man for the first time. What other references can you find buried in this narrative? Does the Prologue foreshadow where this journey will be resolved?

NOTE: This writer is well aware of the darker use of the film The Wizard of Oz, but he foolishly hopes to redeem this much beloved film for a positive and healing purpose. Whether or not the “Dark Side of the Rainbow” was orchestrated by the band Pink Floyd for some unknown agenda, this writer feels its Synchronicity still holds a key to a profound awakening. After all, the final step of the Hero’s Journey is returning from the darkness with the Elixir.

ACT I. INNOCENCE

THJ: THE ORDINARY WORLD

The story begins in a seemingly ordinary world with a seemingly ordinary hero. Paul Venturi is introduced, a seventeen year old freshman going away to college in southwestern Virginia. His first name is a nod to Paul Atreides from the Dune novels. His last name hints that he will have a great adventure.

His university campus represents the ordinary world of the sleepers, and Paul is presently asleep. His freshman status indicates that he is somewhat innocent and naive, representing Adam. His campus represents the Garden of Eden – a kind of magical place between childhood and adulthood where new freedom is experienced, blissfully free of worldly responsibilities. However, there are consequences for temptation.

THJ: THE CALL TO ADVENTURE

What we discover pretty quickly as the story unfolds is that the larger world our hero is being sheltered from is not as simple as it might appear. There are all sorts of intrigues and conspiracies going on in the historical background that our hero is largely unconscious of. Of course, he has chosen to remain unconscious in order to fit in with his society. His extraterrestrial heritage represents his true divine self which he denies himself.

There is a great duality war taking place in this universe, represented by the Cold War, however the complexity of this duality war goes far deeper than anyone can imagine. Presented with several signs to awaken, Paul is being called to the adventure of his life… by temptation.

TAROT: THE FOOL & THE MAGICIAN

The first two Tarot cards represent the principal characters, the protagonist and the antagonist. The sleeping hero plays the Fool, or Adam, who will embark on an adventure of self-discovery, and the Serpent plays the Magician (or the Mentor) who will awaken him.

At the beginning of Book One, the Serpent is represented by a freshman drug-dealer who tempts Paul into his illegal activity. However, we soon discover that there is a non-coporeal entity overshadowing Eric the drug-dealer, using him as a vehicle to influence and eventually communicate with Paul directly.

TAROT: THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS

I have purposefully left these two cards out of my sequence. In essence, they represent the duality that overshadows the entire journey. They represent competing parental figures: first Paul’s human parents in the Ordinary World, then later the multi-dimensional parents Paul will interact with in the Special World. Midway through the journey Paul will interact with the proxies (or cutouts) of duality: Minister Ori’Yahn and Director Dar’Winn. By the end of the journey Paul will deal with the divine embodiment of duality: the Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos.

ACT II. ENTRAPMENT

THJ: REFUSAL OF THE CALL

Paul refuses to fully wake up. He refuses to accept the supernatural things that are happening around him. He refuses to believe that he might have a special role to play in the unfolding drama. Yet the call to awaken becomes more and more persistent. This is represented through the ritual use of a psychedelic/marijuana. Paul is tempted by the Serpent to eat the forbidden fruit of knowledge, and he eventually succumbs… he is entrapped in the journey of self-discovery. Finally, Paul becomes self-aware of his own role in this ritual (playing the Fool/Adam) and of the spiritual process of the Hero’s Journey. This represents the process of overcoming our own denial.

THJ: MEETING WITH THE MENTOR

Once Paul awakens and accepts the call he is finally able to communicate with the Serpent directly. In essence, Eric the drug-dealer is being possessed by a walk-in spirit who uses his body to communicate with Paul. This represents spiritual knowledge from the Special World being channeled into the Ordinary World.

I do not portray the Serpent, named A’Meric, as entirely good or evil. His character has aspects of both. In the course of the journey he literally and figuratively operates beyond duality. So I leave it to the reader to decide if his influence is ultimately positive, negative, or neutral. The mentor or guide is not always a nice person, especially if the student is reluctant to learn. (Even Obi-Wan Kenobi lied to Luke Skywalker.) The mentor is not always a person; it might be a situation. Once the student, or fool, becomes fully awake, he no longer needs the mentor’s influence. Both the Light and the Dark side use this process.

TAROT: THE HIGH PRIESTESS & THE HIEROPHANT

The High Priestess represents intuition, higher powers, the subconscious mind, and the need to listen to the inner voice. These are the new senses and abilities that Paul is discovering as he begins to awaken and see the world in a brand new light. In order to begin this inward journey, Paul has to withdraw from the external world, from the ordinary everyday reality of his family and friends. The dark side of this premature inward journey is represented by a growing addiction to drugs. Paul is still playing the Fool, and thus he is still easily deceived.

Upright, the Hierophant represents religion, conformity, and traditional beliefs. Upside-down, this card represents restriction and challenging the status quo. Upon awakening, Paul finds that his new awareness is also upside-down, at odds with the society around him. The more aware he becomes, the more resistance he experiences from a world that wants to keep him asleep and imprisoned. While another might buckle under the pressure, it serves to propel Paul to the next threshold. What other aspects of social conformity does Paul challenge?

ACT III. THRESHOLD

THJ: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

A third of the way into the journey, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region with unfamiliar rules and values – the Special World. This is the period when Dorothy leaves Kansas for Oz, when Luke Skywalker leaves Tatooine for the Death Star. Likewise, Paul leaves campus at the end of his freshman year and returns home for a supernatural summer. Enticed by the Serpent, Paul passes through a series of challenges and thresholds that propel him to the Astral Plane and the Realm of Yin’Dru. If this were a comic book, Paul would simply step through a magical portal and transport instantaneously to the Special World. However, this act details the spiritual initiation and psychological preparation required to enter the Special World. Can you describe the three psychological thresholds Paul must cross?

TAROT: THE LOVERS & THE CHARIOT (Venus & Mars)

At this point in the typical Hollywood formula, a relationship with a love interest might develop. However, there is no romantic love interest in Season of the Serpent. Similarly, there is none in Star Wars or The Wizard of Oz. These stories are about their hero’s internal journey. The main relationship is the complex bond between travel companions, Paul and the Serpent.

Nevertheless, Paul experiences a powerful epiphany of cosmic connection and divine love at this point in his journey, represented by the Lovers. This transformational experience allows him to cross the first threshold. The Call to Action and the Mentor may awaken us, but it is often our bliss (or lack thereof) that motivates us to act, and the Lovers card is about making an intuitive choice.

The Chariot represents the Hero’s internal fire or drive, igniting him to leave the complacency of his Ordinary World. Paul must discover and exercises his self-confidence and will-power in order to move forward.

A sexual awakening is often the underlying theme of the threshold, crossing the gap between childhood and adulthood. In a sense, what is needed to cross a metaphysical threshold and embark on a spiritual quest are the same characteristics of romantic courtship – arousal, passion, drive, choice, and determination. Does Paul experience a kind of sexual awakening?

ACT IV. TEMPTATION

THJ: TESTS, ALLIES, & ENEMIES

As soon as Paul arrives in the Special World of Yin’Dru he is tested. He doesn’t know the rules of the Astral Realm. He has to sort out his allegiances. He has to discover who his enemies are. The Serpent takes him to meet Director Dar’Winn, the current Regent of this Realm. Dar’Winn represents a meeting with the Goddess. She is a temptress who seduces him with the promise of fame, fortune, adoration, and an externalized role in a heroic quest. However, this is a distraction from Paul’s inner spiritual quest to find his true self. Dar’Winn seeks to use Paul for her own agenda. Meanwhile, a new enemy, the warlord Dar’Amon Goth, will test his abilities and challenge his resolve. What other temptations is Paul presented with in the Realm of Yin’Dru?

TAROT: STRENGTH

Like an exam, temptation tests our resolve to complete our inner journey. The Strength card represents obstacles to overcome, a mental or physical challenge. Paul’s soul is tested as he meets the colorful and intoxicating temptations in this corner of the Astral Plane. Reversed, this card represents the hedonistic self-indulgence of Yin’Dru, the pleasurable plateau Paul encounters on the other side of the threshold which he must rise above to gain the spiritual self-discipline he will need to complete the journey.

ACT V. KNOWLEDGE

THJ: THE APPROACH & THE ORDEAL

Paul and his newfound allies prepare for a major challenge within the Special World. While this is not the final challenge, it will completely transform the Hero’s understanding of himself and his world, destroying any illusions he might have of an easy victory. After a series of political manipulations, Paul must accept a great test by his enemy, the warlord Dar’Amon Goth. He must face the truth. On the other side of the Approach is the Dark Night of the Soul, or the Ordeal.

Thus it is the drug addict of illusion, refusing the test of rising above temptation, that ultimately faces an Ordeal of hitting rock bottom. When the Hero faces the challenge willingly, his soul overcomes and grows. On the other side is wisdom and self-knowledge.

SPOILER: Eating the Forbidden Fruit, Paul eye’s are opened, and he learns the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the truth about duality. He learns that the Astral realm he believed to be divine is in fact demonic. He learns that Yin’Dru is the Realm of freedom and Chaos. He learns of their angelic enemy, Yang’Ash, the Realm of repression and Order. And he learns that all of human history has been written by the hidden conflict of their eternal cold war.

TAROT: THE HERMIT & THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE

The Hermit is the card of soul-searching and introspection. Paul must face this challenge alone. The Mentor/Paul’s Serpent can not accompany him on this personal test. Paul begins to have many suspicions about the motives of his so-called allies. Yet he has only one path in front of him. He must summon all the skills that he has learned so far. The Hermit is also a card of metaphysical study. Paul is initiated in the secret knowledge of the Special World.

The Wheel of Fortune represents karma. It brings a karmic challenge, where a turning point has been reached. Thus the Ordeal we face is specific to our own soul and the lessons that we need to learn to continue our personal journey of self-discovery and growth. Paul’s Ordeal is synchronized with the fate of the human world and the outcome of the Cold War. If Paul can survive self-destruction, so can the world.

Book One ends appropriately enough with the mid-Hero’s Journey cliff-hanger of the Ordeal, as Paul’s fate hangs in the balance. Why is the psychology of the cliff-hanger so compelling to us? Why do we as human beings put off our own awakening and personal growth until we reach a breaking point?

SEASON OF THE SERPENT: BOOK TWO

The second book picks up right where the first one left off. The consequences of Paul Venturi’s Ordeal are about to lead to a global nuclear war – based upon actual historical events. I shall continue to reveal the significance of the narrative structure of The Hero’s Journey, integrated with the Tarot’s Major Arcana, with fewer plot spoilers given of Book Two.

ACT VI. JUDGMENT

THJ: THE ORDEAL

In the middle of the story, the Hero confronts death in the Special World. From this psychological death comes new life. In many respects the Ordeal is the death of the Hero’s ego. His false illusions are stripped away, causing him to awaken at a much deeper level. As Paul makes a painful psychological transition from the realm of Yin’Dru to the realm of Yang’Ash, the price of traveling from Chaos to Order is the subjugation of the human ego. This might be perceived as divine judgement, as a soul crosses the abyss of death and dreams (the astral plane) to the afterlife. However, this is not the end of Paul’s journey, but another beginning, yet another level of the illusion of duality to overcome.

TAROT: JUSTICE & THE HANGED MAN

The Justice card brings forth legal matters: contracts, settlements, and judgment. In the spiritual world, this means being confronted with divine or cosmic law. This is the outcome of the Wheel of Fortune, the result of karma. Paul’s internal judgment of himself is externalized in the spiritual world. He must face a very literal court system based upon the religious concepts of his Christian upbringing. His own inner sense of unresolved guilt creates this psychological drama. Yet religion proves to be another entanglement of duality.

The Hanged Man represents a a sacrifice made for a better future. In the realm of Yin’Dru, Paul ultimately makes himself a sacrifice for the greater good. He is handed over to the other side as the price of maintaining the Cold War stalemate and avoiding an immediate reprisal. We discover that the balance of this war waged between Chaos and Order is a complex political one, a mix of subterfuge and diplomacy. Does the Hanged Man represent a psychological Christ figure? In what other ways is Paul the Hanged Man?

ACT VII. IMPRISONMENT

THJ: THE REWARD

The hero takes possession of the treasure he won by facing death. However, this is not a final victory. Luke Skywalker steals the Death Star plans. Dorothy receives a promise from the Wizard, if she kills the wicked witch, she can go home to Kansas. The reward holds the Hero to a specific course of action. He or she is now commited to their final destiny.

Paul’s reward/treasure is his newly awakened awareness of his true self, the power of his own free will. Though he is now a prisoner of Order, bound by their harsh rules, he is no longer a sleeper within the illusions, disinformation, and distraction of Chaos. He must still fight to claim his treasure and understand that it is the key to his ultimate liberation.

TAROT: DEATH & TEMPERANCE

Transformation is the theme of the Death card. It is the continuation of the Justice and Hanged Man cards. It marks an abrupt end of a cycle and may be a blessing in disguise. Paul’s situation is transformed by his near-death experience in the realm of Chaos, and the required death of his ego in the Realm of Order. His perception is also transformed. He can not yet see this as a positive thing, for his world now seems so much darker. Paul continues to travel through the land of the Dark Night of the Soul.

Reversed, the card indicates a refusal to accept change, or deep stagnation. This describes the landscape of the realm of Yang’Ash perfectly.

Balance is the theme of the Temperament card, and indeed it is the theme of the entire story (which culminated with the World card.) It is within the Realm of Yang’Ash where Paul truly sees that the Universe is out of balance, that the spiritual Cold War between Order and Chaos is not true balance but a desperate, manipulated stalemate, where any deviation will result is self-destruction… global annihilation. This is the problem of duality. Paul begins to seek his own inner balance. What does the conflict between Yin’Dru and Yang’Ash reveal about the imbalances within our own society?

ACT VIII. REVOLUTION

THJ: THE ROAD BACK

Three-fourths of the way through the journey, the Hero is driven to complete the adventure, so he can leave the Special World and return home with his new-found treasure. A sense of urgency builds. The final challenge is often the most dangerous one. The Road Back home is a battle for final independence, for the survival of love ones or the community as a whole. Paul finally accepts and understands his destiny and his personal power, leading a revolution that will forever change the dynamic between Yang’Ash and Yind’Dru, and thus save the human world from a nuclear war in the process. Making his escape from imprisonment in Yang’Ash, Paul discovers many more secrets of how humanity is controlled.

TAROT: THE DEVIL & THE TOWER

The Devil card relates to bondage or slavery, usually tied to an addiction for material things. Within this act, Paul learns how to break the chains of his own bondage and escape the illusory prison of his own beliefs and the spell of his darker emotions. This personal liberation marks the beginning of Paul’s final quest, to spread the light of a truth that has the power to launch a revolution. How is Paul’s character thoroughly transformed within this pivotal Act?

As one of the most negative cards in the Major Arcana, the collapse of the Tower represents sudden changes, conflict, and the disruption of our normal life. The is represented by the political turmoil taking place behind the scenes. Paul has upset the stalemate. The powers of Yin’Dru are creating more chaos. The powers of Yang’Ash are clamping down with more order. Both sides are motivated to manipulate the world into a nuclear war, to secure their own agenda. Paul’s revolution is likewise a disruption of normalcy. Dramatic change, for good or for ill, is always traumatic. Are the forces of Order and Chaos secretly working in concert, toward a shared goal?

ACT IX. DESCENT

THJ: THE RESURRECTION

At the climax of the journey the Hero is severely tested once more before he is allowed to return home. Paul is purified by one last sacrifice. He must face another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level for the growth of his soul. By the Hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning of the story are now about to be resolved. Paul must go directly to the source of the problem. He makes a final mythic journey into the belly of the underworld to face his greatest fears and overcome them.

TAROT: THE STAR & THE MOON

The Star is a card of hope and inspiration, bringing with it the gifts of confidence and vigor, the gifts Paul requires to compete his most dangerous quest yet, gifts he earned by facing both the Devil and the Tower cards. When reversed, it represents a lack of faith and self-doubt, aspects that the Serpent now sarcastically demonstrates as he accompanies Paul on his final journey. The Serpent has not yet completely faced his own personal Devil/his shadow side, nor the destruction of his own Tower/his pride.

The Moon card represents fear, anxiety, and insecurity. Illusion is at the core of this card. Paul will meet the Lord of Chaos. He must face his fears and his remaining illusions if he is going to make it out of the underworld victorious. He must release all of his fear before he can become the master of his own journey. Which fears does Paul overcome as he makes his way through the underworld of Pandemonia? What does the Lord of Chaos represent?

ACT X. TRANSFORMATION

THJ: RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR

His journey almost finished, Paul returns to Yang’Ash to confront the Lord of Order, to complete his revolution and expose the larger duality game. What has Paul overcome to reach this point? What does the Lord of Order represent?

The Hero eventually returns home with some element of the treasure he has gained from his experience. This is not a physical treasure, but a new understanding, a new paradigm, an idea that has the power to transform the world just as the Hero has been transformed.

However, before Paul returns home to his ordinary life on Earth, he makes one last journey to the shores of Nirvana, beyond these lower, illusory realms of duality on the astral plane. Whom does Paul meet there? What does Paul learn?

TAROT: THE SUN, JUDGMENT, & THE WORLD

The Sun is the card of happiness, health, achievement, and success. Sunlight plays a representative role in the bowels of Pandemonia after Paul’s victory over Chaos.

Judgment is the card of rebirth, absolution, and awakening. Judgment and awakening play a big role in the angelic realm of Yang’Ash when Paul confronts the Lord of Order. What other story is mirrored, element for element, by this final Act?

The World is the card of completion, integration, accomplishment, and fulfillment. This card shows the culmination of all things, the end of the soul’s journey into the material realms. It also represents the end of the Karmic cycle. It may even represents a newly risen or ascended Earth. This is the world beyond duality that Paul experiences briefly before he decides to return home, to continue his mortal life, and share the treasure he has earned from the Hero’s Journey.

CONCLUSION

Season of the Serpent was nearly half-a-lifetime in the making. It began from my own college experiences in the early 1980s, from my spiritual awakening, and as a witness to the nuclear war scare of those September days in 1983 when Korean Airline KAL-007 was shot down by Soviet MiG fighters.

This project took on new urgency as I was being constantly harassed by my higher self to complete these novels in the years before 2012. Learning to trust my intuitive side and write them was every bit my own personal Hero’s Journey, with all the highs and lows. These days, I can say that I have accomplished my mission with great satisfaction. There may yet be more stories to come from this particular Universe. I have another in the works. But for now, they still await an audience to both entertain and enlighten.

12 thoughts on “Season of the Serpent: A Hero’s Journey”

To drop a quick nod to your participation in the great work, which I have begun to know and understand:
Your personal work is deserving of one’s time and attention. After happening upon this site, which I can now clearly see as a part of pivotal synchronicities in the past year, the jigsaw puzzle of the bigger picture started to become recognizable as a door to truth. The disjointed pieces, while being interesting before, had always lacked a lasting, meaningful connotation within our framework of reality. Once I had dug around here a bit, I eventually was led to the Trivium, and that was it. No going back. However that all happened, you and your work are undeniably applaudable as a call for the self to find the courage necessary in our time. I will be passing along your book to my little sister, who is just starting her senior year in high school. Fortunately, she has at least some of the understanding of the freedom, which is found in books. Thank you for your positive action in support our lives and may your light grow ever brighter.